CALCUTTA, May 7: Exide Industries Ltd, the country's largest storage battery company, has set a turnover target of Rs 1000 crore for itself to be achieved by the turn of the century.An organisational communique said that the company's gross sales touched Rs 509 crore for the year ending March 31, 1997, posting an increase of 42 per cent. Its operating profit increased by 56 per cent and after tax profit at Rs 30.93 crore registered a growth of 52 per cent.

The company has recently inaugurated its factory at Hossur in collaboration with Shin Kobe Electric Machinery Collaboration Ltd, part of the Hitachi Group of Japan and Exide's technical collaborator. The factory currently manufactures VRLA batteries for industrial applications.Subsequently a second assembly line with automotive batteries will be added to further consolidate Exide's position in select markets.

Shin-Kobe is the technical partner for both automotive and VRLA batteries.With the technological collaboration boosting the export performance, Exide chairman and managing director S B Ganguly said that Exide was negotiating a marketing arrangement with Varta of Germany for import of these batteries.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.